Featured Research

from universities, journals, and other organizations

Large waist linked to poor health, even among those in healthy body mass index ranges

Date:

March 12, 2014

Source:

Mayo Clinic

Summary:

Having a big belly has consequences beyond trouble squeezing into your pants. It’s detrimental to your health, even if you have a healthy body mass index (BMI), a new international collaborative study has found. Men and women with large waist circumferences were more likely to die younger, and were more likely to die from illnesses such as heart disease, respiratory problems, and cancer after accounting for body mass index, smoking, alcohol use and physical activity.

Share This

Having a big belly has consequences beyond trouble squeezing into your pants. It's detrimental to your health, even if you have a healthy body mass index (BMI), a new international collaborative study led by a Mayo Clinic researcher found. Men and women with large waist circumferences were more likely to die younger, and were more likely to die from illnesses such as heart disease, respiratory problems, and cancer after accounting for body mass index, smoking, alcohol use and physical activity. The study is published in the March edition of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Related Articles

The researchers pooled data from 11 different cohort studies, including more than 600,000 people from around the world. They found that men with waists 43 inches or greater in circumference had a 50 percent higher mortality risk than men with waists less than 35 inches, and this translated to about a three-year lower life expectancy after age 40. Women with a waist circumference of 37 inches or greater had about an 80 percent higher mortality risk than women with a waist circumference of 27 inches or less, and this translated to about a five-year lower life expectancy after age 40.

Importantly, risk increased in a linear fashion such that for every 2 inches of greater circumference, mortality risk went up about 7 percent in men and about 9 percent in women. Thus, there was not one natural "cutpoint" for waist circumference that could be used in the clinic, as risk increased across the spectrum of circumferences.

Another key finding was that elevated mortality risk with increasing waist circumference was observed at all levels of BMI, even among people who had normal BMI levels. Because of the large size of this pooled study, researchers were able to clearly show the independent contribution of waist circumference after accounting for BMI, says James Cerhan, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic epidemiologist and lead author of the study.

"BMI is not a perfect measure," says Dr. Cerhan. "It doesn't discriminate lean mass from fat mass, and it also doesn't say anything about where your weight is located. We worry about that because extra fat in your belly has a metabolic profile that is associated with diseases such as diabetes and heart disease."

Dr. Cerhan says physicians should consider both BMI and waist circumference as part of risk assessment for obesity-related premature mortality.

"The primary goal should be preventing both a high BMI and a large waist circumference," Dr. Cerhan says. "For those patients who have a large waist, trimming down even a few inches -- through exercise and diet -- could have important health benefits."

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Mayo Clinic. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Mayo Clinic. (2014, March 12). Large waist linked to poor health, even among those in healthy body mass index ranges. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 31, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140312114559.htm

Mar. 31, 2015  Increasing state alcohol taxes could prevent thousands of deaths a year from car crashes, say researchers, who found alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes decreased after taxes on beer, wine and ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  Alcoholism takes a toll on every aspect of a person's life, including skin problems. Now, a new research report helps explain why this happens and what might be done to address it. "The clinical ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  A new population of 'memory' immune cells has been discovered by scientists, throwing light on what the body does when it sees a microbe for the second time. This insight, and others like it, will ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  Coronary heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in the United States, are diseases associated with heightened platelet reactivity. A new study in humans suggests an underlying ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  A new study had researchers seeking answers to why the therapeutic benefit afforded by SSRIs was so limited in children and teenagers. If researchers can uncover the biological mechanisms preventing ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  A drug being developed to treat osteoporosis may also be useful for treating osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone disease, a rare but potentially debilitating bone disorder that that is present ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  It is possible to quantify and classify the effects of different diseases on the activity of intestinal bacteria, new research demonstrates for the first time. Human intestinal flora, known as ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  During prenatal development, the brains of most animals, including humans, develop specifically male or female characteristics. But scientists have known little about the details of how this ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  A history of depression may put women at risk for developing diabetes during pregnancy, according to research. This study also pointed to how common depression is during pregnancy and the need for ... full story

Featured Videos

Solitair Device Aims to Takes Guesswork out of Sun Safety

Reuters - Innovations Video Online (Mar. 31, 2015)  The Solitair device aims to take the confusion out of how much sunlight we should expose our skin to. Small enough to be worn as a tie or hair clip, it monitors the user&apos;s sun exposure by taking into account their skin pigment, location and schedule. Matthew Stock reports.
Video provided by Reuters

Soda, Salt and Sugar: The Next Generation of Taxes

Washington Post (Mar. 30, 2015)  Denisa Livingston, a health advocate for the Dinι Community Advocacy Alliance, and the Post&apos;s Abby Phillip discuss efforts around the country to make unhealthy food choices hurt your wallet as much as your waistline.
Video provided by Washington Post

S. Leone in New Anti-Ebola Lockdown

AFP (Mar. 28, 2015)  Sierra Leone imposed a three-day nationwide lockdown Friday for the second time in six months in a bid to prevent a resurgence of the deadly Ebola virus. Duration: 01:17
Video provided by AFP

Related Stories

July 7, 2014  Obesity, especially excessive belly fat, is a risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to a new article. Excessive belly fat and low physical activity are linked to ... full story

Feb. 18, 2014  Do attractive traits tell us anything about a person's reproductive health? New research reveals a link between Body Mass Index (BMI) and the amount of bacteria colonizing noses. The results ... full story

July 18, 2012  Researchers have developed a new metric to measure obesity, called A Body Shape Index, or ABSI, that combines the existing metrics of Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference and shows a better ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.